Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

By Larry Boales

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 25, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462852208

Book preview

Chapter 1

My name is John Evans; and as I sit here looking out my window at a clear blue sky, I’m wondering how I can write this story in a way that people will not think I am insane. Even though I witnessed most of it and I still don’t believe it really happened. But I made a promise to Billy that I would write this story, so that his death would not be in vane. But where do I start, if Billy was here he would tell me, you always start at the beginning so here I go.

Three months ago I received a letter from William Blakely an old high school friend; he told me he was living on his ranch ten miles outside Ouray, Colorado. He wanted me to come and stay with him on his ranch for a few days partly to visit but mainly to be a witness to some strange occurrences. He said he had moved onto the ranch four months earlier and that everything was normal for about the first two months. But all of a sudden some strange things began to happen; and now there were some really strange things going on, things that he did not want to discuss it in a letter. When he even offered to pay my expenses to come; well I knew something had to be very wrong because in all the years I had known Billy; he had always been extremely frugal and had never offered to pay for anything. So I pack a bag not expecting to be gone more than a week and made the trip which was really quite pleasant since it was early summer. Ouray is located in the Uncompahgre National Forest and the view of the mountains are always spectacular; however at this time of the year there is still snow in the areas of the mountains that are protected from direct sunlight and of course there is always snow on the peaks. There is a sharp contrast of the color green due to the variety of the different species of trees in the area. The green leaves of the trees, along with the brilliant white of the snow combined of course with that Colorado blue sky is always magnificent. I was traveling north on HWY 550 better known as the Million Dollar Highway. As I entered the city limits of Ouray I pulled into a gas station with a little cafe and called Billy on a local phone so he would know that I had arrived and he could come and lead me to his ranch, he had said in his letter that it would be very difficult to find his ranch otherwise without being familiar with the area.

Billy answered the phone almost immediately and in a fever pitched tone he said he would leave immediately, but that it would take about thirty minutes before he could get here. I told him there was no hurry that I needed a cup of coffee and a sandwich and I would be waiting for him in the cafe.

Billy arrived just as the waitress was bringing my BLT sandwich and coffee. He was anxiously looking around as he walked into the little café. Before I could eat a bite of my sandwich he spotted me and called my name and told me to come quickly. I told him I wanted to eat my sandwich and drink my coffee and he said bring it with you. So I tried to wrap it in a napkin and started to walk to the counter to pay but Billy said never mind he had already paid the tab and the waitress nodded her head in agreement, so he grabbed me by my elbow and said hurry we need to get back to the ranch.

We each got into our vehicles and I pulled out behind Billy, after a short trip down the hwy 550 Billy turned off onto what appeared to be a ranch road and he started picking up speed just as I tried to grab a bite of my sandwich. When I looked up again I couldn’t see anything but a cloud of dust, so I put my sandwich down and tried stay as close as I dared in the thick dust that Billy was stirring up. Finally Billy turned into a gate onto another smaller road that led up into a canyon; where I could see a small house that was neatly tucked away at the end of the canyon.

Billy came to a stop and got out of his truck and immediately began staring toward top of the canyon wall which faced the front of his house. As I approached him I was about to chastise him for his rude behavior at the cafe when I caught a glimpse of what he was looking at. There along the canyon wall near the top appeared to be greenish glow radiating out from the canyon wall, it did not extend upward but instead it appeared to be directly in front of the canyon wall. I quickly asked Billy what was causing this; he said he had not been able to examine it because every time he had tried to investigate this phenomenon it would vanish before he got to the top of the canyon. Billy turned to face me and said this only started this morning and that is why I was rushing you at the diner I wanted you to see this, which is only the latest phenomenon of a long list.

I am sure Billy could see the look of amazement on my face so he tapped me on the shoulder and said come on old buddy lets go into the kitchen, so I followed Billy inside of the house. I sat down at the table Billy asked if I wanted some more coffee and I quickly said yes and something stronger to go with it if you have it. Billy laughed and said you haven’t seen anything yet. Billy poured the coffee and sat down at the table with his head lowered and his shoulders slumped. He finally looked up at me; John when I wrote you the letter I was really feeling very insecure about my sanity, I was seeing and hearing things that I absolutely could not explain; and there were things happening in and around the ranch that should not have been happening I mean there was no logical explanation for them to occur. Do you remember when we were in school and Professor Wells told the whole class that for every action there is an opposite reaction and there is always a rational explanation to explain it. Well I tried to justify the actions of these occurrences that have been going on around here. But I have come to the point that I no longer know which is the action and which one is the reaction therefore nothing can be explained.

I looked at him very perplexed are you telling me that are times when there are more than one phenomenon occurring at the same time?

John it would takes several hours for me to inform you of everything that I have witnessed over the last two months. At first I was overlooking the less significant instances when they occurred, because to tell the truth they were quite trivial. I think it would be helpful if I took you out and just show you some of the things that I am talking about, but you had better take the time to eat your sandwich and drink your coffee before we leave. I will pack us some supplies for the trip because it will take quite awhile to show you all of the occurrences.

I finished eating my sandwich while Billy gathered up some flashlights and some snacks and something to drink. Billy took all the supplies out to his truck and I joined him outside and looked up at the canyon wall but the greenish glow had disappeared and everything was back to normal or at least I assumed it was normal. We got into the truck and Billy started driving back towards the road and then turned to the left down what looked to be an old cow trail. We drove for about ten minutes dodging tree limbs as we went and we stopped in the middle of a large hay pasture that had a thick lush growth of Bahia and Bermuda grass. The pasture was completely surrounded by a huge growth of Aspen trees that were fully leafed out and the clearing we were in was devoid of any rocks or small brush. As we stepped out of the truck I noticed that the sun was setting behind a majestic mountain peak that was covered with snow. The temperature probably had been in the low seventies when we arrived at the house, but now it was dropping quickly. Billy tossed me a coat and said you had better put this coat on it will be down in the forties in a couple of hours.

I looked up at sky and commented to Billy that when the sun goes down here it’s almost like turning off the light; there sure are not many shades of twilight. But I have to admit I can’t recall ever seeing so many stars, they reminded me of diamonds lying on a piece of black velvet, and the sky filled with all those stars was really a beautiful site. Billy said let’s get back in the truck, because things should start happening pretty soon.

Billy made the comment that he wasn’t going to tell me in advance what was going to happen because he did not want to influence my judgment in any way. So we sat in silence for probably half an hour before I noticed a bluish white light that was small, but at the same time it was extremely bright coming over the top of the trees. As the light neared I watched it as it seemed to float over the top of the trees about a quarter of a mile away. When it reached the edge of the clearing it floated down to within four feet above the ground, it stopped moving briefly. Then the single light divided into four lights all of the lights were hovering just above the ground and moving as one. The lights continued to move at a right angle to where we were parked, and suddenly they turned and began to move directly towards us, never faltering. They maintained the same speed and direction of travel while keeping the same spacing between each light moving in a line that would bring them straight to the truck. The thought came to my mind of a precision drill team in the military all marching in unison. Then about one hundred feet away the lights paused for a brief moment and as they did the lights turned from a bluish white to a reddish green hue of light. They started to materialize into shapes which seemed familiar but at the same time I just could not recognize a specific form. Then they began moving towards the truck again. I have to admit I was flabbergasted and all this time Billy had not moved or said one word. I continued to watch the wavering forms of light continuing to come directly at us. I remembered thinking to myself, surely they will not come right up to us, but by the time I had finished thinking this thought, they were right alongside the truck. I wanted to try to contact them in some way, but to be honest I was completely petrified and stupefied. I could not understand why I was afraid of them; because they did not show any aggression towards us, but deep down I felt that we were in harms way; in all honesty it was probably my own fear that was causing this feeling. Even though they were right in front of us I still couldn’t distinguish exactly what their forms were. It was almost as though there forms were constantly changing. More to the point it was as if there were evolving. Then in the blink of an eye they were gone!

I don’t how long we sat there before Billy finally spoke and brought me back to my senses he only said five words Well what do you think!

I gathered my thoughts for a few moments and said Billy what did I just witness.

Billy began to laugh so you did see them?

Hell yes, I seen them; but I have no idea what they were or where they came from.

Billy said to tell you the truth I have seen them several times and I still don’t have those answers.

I looked at Billy, exactly when did you start seeing these apparitions.

Billy went silent in thought for a couple of seconds; it began about two months after I moved here I started seeing the other lights that would appear around the house and barn area. But this is only the tip of the iceberg and the night is still young, and these creatures for lack of a better name work all night long.

Billy started the truck and made a wide circle around the clearing until he came upon the cow trail we had used as a road to come into the clearing, at which time he turned back towards the road that led to the house, but he did not travel far before he turned to the right and stopped he put the truck into neutral shifted into 4-wheel drive. He look at me and said hang onto your ass were going up this mountain, and away we went bouncing and bucking, running over small boulders and tree trunks climbing at angle that made me feel more like an astronaut being launched into space. If it had not been for the heavy canopy of trees I’m sure I would have had a beautiful view of the stars, after what seemed a lifetime we finally leveled out once again. Now that wasn’t so bad now was it Billy said laughing, it will be easier traveling for while now that we are on top.

I looked at Billy and said we really haven’t had a chance to talk since I got here, so how about filling me in on what you been doing for the last two years.

Sure Billy said ask away, what do want to know.

Well for starters when did you buy this ranch and why did you buy it.

Billy laughed and said well I didn’t buy it, my uncle passed away about six months ago and he left it to me, it seems that he didn’t get along with the rest of his family and I was the only one who kept in touch with him, and the only who ever came to visit him. So he willed the ranch and all the livestock and this old Dodge truck to me. Mostly just to spite the rest of his family I think. I only have two thousand or so acres but I have two mountains in it so I don’t have much pasture land. But I truly do love this ranch especially in the summer every thing is so pretty, it is awful pretty in the fall and it’s gorgeous in with all the snow in the winter but it sure does get cold. Billy pulled up beside a huge tree and stopped; he opened the door and stepped out of the truck, grab that thermos of coffee and that pack of sandwiches we are going on a pick-nick. Then we headed to the left down a trail that was probably used by a wide variety of wildlife. The canopy of trees was solid so we couldn’t get any moonlight or starlight, and the flashlight Billy was carrying wasn’t much brighter than a match in this pitch dark. Billy walked as if he knew the trail by heart stepping around fallen limbs and small boulders with ease. We traveled for about thirty minutes when Billy put out his hand and told me to stop and to be real quiet, we eased ahead for about twenty more feet and Billy stopped and motion for me to come alongside of him. I eased my way alongside and he then motioned down into the valley where I could see the house and barns. He put his finger to his lips and shook his head sideways to indicate not to talk or make any noise. I nodded my head in agreement and we both sat down on an old fallen tree trunk to wait for whatever it was that was going to happen.

Billy quietly reached over and picked up the thermos and poured two cups of hot coffee and handed one to me.

I nodded a thank you and took the cup. As I watched valley floor below and sipped on the coffee my mind began to drift away to what had happened only an hour or so earlier I tried to remember every detail but my mind kept returning to the time when the shimmering lights were right beside the truck. What was it that about wavering forms in the light, was it the forms they were assuming which was never completely finished, or was it the effect the lights seemed to have on the forms? Suddenly Billy poked me in the ribs bringing me out of my daze and pointed to the valley floor below where I could see a brilliant white light coming up the road towards the house. It was similar to the lights we had just observed earlier in the pasture, but once again there was something different about this light. The movement seemed to mimic the way a man would walk rather than having the floating effect as the lights in the pasture had exhibited. I quickly looked around to see if there were any other lights in sight, but there were no other lights visible. So I refocused on the light coming down the road, in the brief moment I had looked away, the light had turned and was heading towards the barn. But as soon as the light reached the barn it stopped moving forward and began to fade in intensity and in color. It slowly started to move away from the barn, and immediately began to glow brightly again. Now the light turned towards the house and as it neared the house; it once again seemed to lose its intensity and quickly it turned away from the house and began moving towards canyon wall. The closer to the wall it traveled, the brighter the light became, when it finally reached the wall the light completely disappeared as if it went into the wall.

I looked over at Billy and he was already looking towards the end of the canyon, as I followed his gaze to the end of the canyon I caught movement along the side of the hay shed which was only a short distance from the barn. I watched intently trying to distinguish what I thought was some type of wagon that seemed to be moving in a rocking type of motion. I was trying to decide what could be causing the rocking movement when I was almost knocked off the log I was sitting on by a brilliant flash of light from the exact spot the wagon had been located.

Billy reach to grab my arm to keep me from falling off the log, he spoke softly and said I should have warned you about that he said laughing.

I